What could help? Trials would help. That would allow someone to download an app and see the difference first hand, not just trust a screenshot. Apple has been clear, though. They prefer freemium. Getting out of the App Store itself can help. Building enough value to charge a subscription could help.

Productivity apps can’t survive and bring the long-term value customers demand at $2.99 or $4.99. At the end of the day, though, the app stores, whether Apple, Google or the like, are not going to solve our problem [2]. The only thing that will is rethinking the products so we can get out of the app stores and differentiate.

Very rational thinking here, but hard advice to hear. I’m genuinely interested in seeing where pricing goes in the app store over the next several years. Paying customers will still be there – the question for developers is how can they get a chunk of it.